Welcome to Common Gunsense

I hope this blog will provoke some thoughtful reflection about the issue of guns and gun violence. I am passionate about the issue and would love to change some misperceptions and the culture of gun violence in America by sharing with readers words, photos, videos and clips from articles to promote common sense about gun issues. Many of you will agree with me- some will not. I am only one person but one among many who think it's time to do something about this national problem. The views expressed by me in this blog do not represent any group with which I am associated but are rather my own personal opinions and thoughts.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, March 28, 2010

An armed society is a rude and dangerous society

On last night's news, there was a story about how police in Jacksonville, Florida shot up a car. The car was occupied by a 35 year old woman and her children, aged 2 and 7. Unfortunately, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. A bank robber was on the run after using his gun to seize money from a Wachovia bank. The robber ran to a nearby Wendys where a woman was waiting for her order in her car. At gunpoint, the man got into the car and drove away. Police, now alerted, chased the car and started shooting- over 40 rounds- killing the gunman and seriously wounding the 2 year old in the car. What damage guns cause. The robber, who had a criminal record in 5 states, had a gun. Where did he get that gun and how since he had a criminal record? If not for a gun he could not have robbed the bank. If he hadn't had a gun, he could not have threatened to kill the innocent woman. If not for his gun, police would have been less reluctant to open fire. Police are outgunned and fear for their own lives since they have, indeed, been the targets of gunmen who hate law enforcement. Does this support the argument that an "armed society is a polite society" as is used by the NRA? I think not. Read about the shooting here.

3 comments:

This NRA talking point, even if it were true (which I don't think it is) would be very undesirable. This would be politeness backed up by a threat: be polite or else I will deploy my gun and force you to be.

This kind of atmosphere, where threats and violence always lie just beneath the surface, would be appropriate in the old frontier towns, not in modern, civilized society. I don't want to return to those days. I think we have progressed enough in our society to leave the means of violence at home.

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